Liveblog

THE FIRST OF a two-night debate in the Dáil on a motion of no confidence in Justice Minister Alan Shatter has concluded.

The motion, put forward by Fianna Fáil, will be voted on tomorrow. It is the second such motion that the party has proposed in less than a year.

Shatter has weathered a number of political storms in recent months – from the penalty points controversy to potential GSOC bugging and phone tapping at Garda stations – and, given the government majority, is likely to survive this one too.

However, a number of key questions surrounding recent events still remain unanswered.

Here’s a blow by blow of everything that happened…

7:29PM
· 1 APR 14

Good evening, it’s Órla Ryan here. TheJournal.ie will be keeping you up-to-date on this evening’s debate, as it happens.

7:32PM
· 1 APR 14

Before this evening’s proceedings kick off, here’s the one link you need to catch up on everything that has happened in the GardaGate controversy to date.

Collins: Leo Varadkar was a “hero” until he criticised Martin Callinan yesterday.

7:46PM
· 1 APR 14

Collins: The timing of the phone tapping revelations was “convenient”. “The public aren’t buying it”.

7:48PM
· 1 APR 14

Collins: Government “wouldn’t allow” Callinan to apologise to whistleblowers.

7:48PM
· 1 APR 14

Collins: “Who knew what and when isn’t clear”.

7:49PM
· 1 APR 14

Collins: Callinan was “shafted” by the government.

7:51PM
· 1 APR 14

Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen is up now. Says Opposition has been left with “no option” but to propose the motion.

7:53PM
· 1 APR 14

Cowen: Comments by government ministers on the issue ”have done nothing but raise further questions”.

7:55PM
· 1 APR 14

Cowen asks if it’s only a Justice Minister that can “sack” a Garda Commissioner.

7:56PM
· 1 APR 14

Cowen: Ministers “sealed fate” of Callinan by refusing to publicly state their confidence in him.

7:57PM
· 1 APR 14

Cowen: Ministers “sealed fate” of Callinan by refusing to publicly state their confidence in him.

7:58PM
· 1 APR 14

Cowen: What we have is “a scenario whereby one crisis was created to divert attention from another”.

7:59PM
· 1 APR 14

Willie O’Dea is speaking now.

8:02PM
· 1 APR 14

O’Dea: When Shatter addressed the Dáil last week “There wasn’t a word about Oliver Connolly … not a word about the secretary general’s visit to the Commissioner … not a word about why the Attorney General sat on the information [on phone tapping]“.

8:02PM
· 1 APR 14

O’Dea: “Why has everything [Shatter] has touched turned to dust?”

8:03PM
· 1 APR 14

O’Dea: Referencing Joan of Arc, says the “only voice Shatter listens to is his own”.

8:05PM
· 1 APR 14

O’Dea: “Why does everything Shatter touch turn to dust?”

8:05PM
· 1 APR 14

O’Dea: Calls Labour party the “chinless leaders of 2014″.

8:07PM
· 1 APR 14

O’Dea: The government’s position has “all the credibility of Oscar Pistorius’s defence”.

Calleary: Questions Kenny’s handling of the situation. Says the fact the Attorney General did not want to discuss the Garda phone tapping issue on the phone suggests she has concerns about her own “security”.

8:12PM
· 1 APR 14

Calleary: If Kenny had confidence in Shatter, he would have informed him of the phone tapping sooner.

8:13PM
· 1 APR 14

Calleary: Tells Shatter “they’ll probably write songs about you in the future”, but adds he’s “like a learner driver – at the wheel but somebody else is in control”.

8:14PM
· 1 APR 14

Calleary: Colleagues can’t really have confidence in a minister that has four inquires underway.

Shatter: The length of time (16 days) it took him to become aware of a letter from Callinan sent to the Department on phone tapping in Garda stations is being overly focused on in a ”politically opportunistic” way.

8:29PM
· 1 APR 14

Shatter: We need to stand behind An Garda Síochána.

8:30PM
· 1 APR 14

Shatter: The Prison Service will release a statement on the recording of prisoners’ phone calls “very shortly”.

8:32PM
· 1 APR 14

Shatter: Refers to work being done by the government on the Victims Rights Bill and next year’s Marriage Equality referendum.

8:32PM
· 1 APR 14

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney is up next.

8:33PM
· 1 APR 14

Coveney: I sit next to Alan Shatter in the Dáil and have gotten to know him very well.

8:35PM
· 1 APR 14

Coveney: Shatter is a “reforming” minister and apologised for any mistake he made, such as saying the whistleblowers did not co-operate with the investigation into the penalty points controversy.

8:37PM
· 1 APR 14

Coveney: Government is focusing on reform, such as the establishment of an independent policing board. Shatter is currently overseeing 5 bills and drafting an additional 4 bills.

Mac Lochlainn: Shatter has been in consultation with the Attorney General about the Ian Bailey case, how could he not know about the phone tapping element?

8:57PM
· 1 APR 14

Mac Lochlainn: Questions Shatter’s handling of the penalty points controversy and his ”attempt to discredit a political opponent” when he told Prime Time that TD Mick Wallace was warned by a guard about using his phone while driving.

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